Jalebi
Abhipriya Raghav
Thin, crunchy and juicy jalebi that are dunked in sugar syrup and served hot or warm as is or with rabri for a burst of flavors.
Prep Time 15 hours hrs
Cook Time 30 minutes mins
Total Time 15 hours hrs 30 minutes mins
Course Dessert, Sweets
Cuisine Indian
For the batter and for frying
- 1 cup all purpose flour / maida
- 1½ tbsp chickpea flour
- 3 tbsp yogurt
- ¼ tsp cardamom powder
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ⅛ tsp baking soda
- a pinch of orange food color, optional
- water, ½ cup or as needed
- oil or ghee, to fry the jalebi
For sugar syrup
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup water
- ⅛ cup cardamom powder
- few saffron strands
- ½ tsp lemon juice
In a mixing bowl, add the all ingredients mentioned under 'for the batter and for frying' except for water and oil or ghee. Whisk well.
Add half cup water or as needed to make a smooth batter. Cover the batter and let it ferment for 12-15 hours in a warm surrounding.
Add sugar and water to a pan. Mix till the sugar dissolves and let it come to a boil.
Add cardamom powder, saffron strands and lemon juice. Mix well. Let it simmer until it reaches a single thread consistency. Take it off the heat.
Meanwhile, heat oil or ghee in a kadai on low-medium heat.
Mix the batter well and transfer it to a squeeze bottle. Squeeze the batter in the oil in a spiral motion. Move from the inside to the outside. Fry till golden-brown and crisp on both sides.
Remove the jalebi from oil and immediately dip both sides in warm sugar syrup for a few seconds.
Remove from sugar syrup and serve hot or warm.
- Make sure there are no lumps while making the batter.
- If you do not want to use any food color, then use turmeric powder or add more saffron strands in the sugar syrup.
- To make the batter, add half cup water and then add more if needed. The batter should neither be too thick nor too thin.
- Keep in mind that the batter thins out after fermentation. So, add water as needed.
- Leave the batter to ferment for 12-15 hours or as your surrounding climate is. The batter is fermented once you see small bubbles on the top.
- For frying the jalebis, you can use oil or ghee or even a combination of both.
- Simmer the sugar syrup until it reaches a single thread consistency or until it turns sticky. A single thread consistency is when a drop of sugar syrup in between your thumb and index finger forms a single thread while pressing and releasing the fingers.
- While dropping the batter in the oil or ghee, make sure it is in low heat. After dropping it, increase the heat to medium and fry the jalebis.
- If the oil is too hot while frying, the batter ,might disintegrate. And if it is too low in heat, then the jalebis might absorb more oil or ghee.
- If you do not have a squeeze bottle, then use a piping bag or a freezer friendly pouch to pour the batter in and cut the tip to make a small hole.
- While dipping the fried jalebis in sugar syrup, make sure it is still warm.
- Dip the fried jalebis immediately in the sugar syrup just for a few seconds. Not more and not less.
- Lemon juice is added in the sugar syrup to avoid crystallization of sugar.
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Keyword dessert, diwali sweet, indian, jalebi, new year, sweet, sweets